|
Will Bratt - 2006 Season Review |
|
|
|
|
Tuesday, 21 November 2006 |
 Will Bratt can reflect on 2006 as the year he truly came of age as a single-seater racing driver, the 18-year-old ending his second season of Formula Renault UK Championship action eighth overall in the driver standings with one outstanding race win to his credit.
As one of just six drivers to make their way onto the top step of the podium during the 2006 season, Adderbury-based Will marked himself out as one of the true stars of Formula Renault UK and should he return to the series in 2007 he’ll undoubtedly be a consistent front-runner and title contender.
Having enjoyed a productive pre-season throughout March during official
testing, the first race meeting of the season took place at Brands
Hatch Indy Circuit in early April and the Apotex Pharmaceuticals-backed
star quickly underlined how genuine his testing pace had been by taking
top eight and top six finishes in the opening two rounds.
Oulton Park Island Circuit in Cheshire was the next stop on the
calendar and proved to be the highlight of the year for Will and the
Scorpio Motorsport team, the Oxon teenager qualifying a career-best
second on the grid for round four of the championship and going on to
take a famous victory – his first ever in Formula Renault UK.
After making a perfect start to leapfrog pole-sitter Sam Bird on the
run to Old Hall Corner for the first time, Will was never headed during
the 15-lap race as he soaked up intense pressure from championship
contender Patrick Hogan throughout.
“It was fantastic to win at Oulton Park”, said Will looking back on his
popular and well deserved maiden victory, “We learned a lot in 2005,
everything was new to us then so it was always going to be a case of
really starting to come into our own this year.”
After a visit to the ultra-fast Thruxton Circuit in Hampshire, the
championship made its annual journey to Knockhill in Scotland during
mid-June which would prove to be the most demanding event of the season
for Will who, at the time, was in the midst of his vital A-level
examinations at Bloxham School near Banbury.
Running strongly in the top six during round seven, Will was robbed of
an impressive finish when forced into a spin on lap four although a
valiant fight-back through the order did net him some valuable
championship points.
Round eight, however, saw a turn around in fortunes with the
Apotex-backed sensation climbing from ninth on the grid to achieve a
richly deserved top four result in absolutely appalling conditions. His
superb performance also earned Will the ELF/Atol Driver of the Day
accolade and, with the racing completed, he embarked on the long
journey back to Oxon to prepare for no less than five A-level exams the
following day.
Another fourth place finish followed at Croft during the 10th round of
the campaign, from sixth on the grid, but the following race meeting at
Donington Park National Circuit saw Will make a welcome return to the
podium with an excellent third place in round 12.
Starting fifth on the grid, Will moved into the top four on lap one and
then a superb piece of textbook overtaking at Goddard’s Chicane on the
seventh lap saw the 2004 T-Car Champion seize third position from Cheng
Cong Fu.
Following two rounds in mid-August at Snetterton in Norfolk, more
success came for Will but this time it was away from the track. Having
achieved ‘A’-grades in History, Maths and Art at A-level, the
18-year-old was successful in progressing to the University of Oxford’s
Lincoln College where he now reads History.
On the back of such fantastic news, Will returned to the cockpit of his
Formula Renault for the championship’s second visit to Donington Park
in September as support to the World Series by Renault category. In
front of over 90,000 spectators on the full Grand Prix layout of the
Leicestershire venue, Will achieved a brace of seventh place finishes.
The penultimate event of the season saw Formula Renault UK revisit
Brands Hatch Indy Circuit but, unfortunately for Will, the race meeting
didn’t offer the same level of success as the opening two rounds of the
year due to an internal gearbox problem.
Nonetheless, a top eight championship finish was still on the cards and
although he was forced to miss the opening qualifying session at
Silverstone National Circuit during the season finale due to University
commitments, Will shone in the 20th and final round of the year by
finishing fifth after an excellent drive and sealing eighth in the
standings in the process.
Reflecting on the season as a whole, Will commented: “It was certainly
a year of quite a few high points for me and the team, we always had a
tinge of excitement heading into each race meeting as we knew we had
good potential.
“Generally speaking, with more good fortune I think our two podium
results could have become as many as six. We weren’t strong enough to
challenge for the championship, we were never naïve enough to think
that, but we do aim to be contenders next year.”
He added: “I’ve really enjoyed the last two years with Scorpio, we have
a terrific sporting and working relationship, and hopefully we can
maintain the continuity into 2007 and be regular podium finishers.
“It’s been a memorable season for us and hopefully we’ll take what
we’ve learned forward into next year where it should pay dividends.
We’re not underestimating how tough the competition will be in 2007
though and we need to work hard to attract new sponsors to share in
what we hope will be continued success with Apotex and Scorpio.”
|
News